Title

Author

Date of Defense

4-20-2012

Date of Graduation

4-28-2012

Department

English

First Advisor

Jonathan Bush

Second Advisor

Kristin Sovis

Abstract

A series of reflective journals and responses written to reflect on and improve in the teaching of English. Each journal was written following each class meeting of a Fall 2011 ENGL 1000 course, reflecting on the lesson, activities, and teaching for the day. From these journals, responses were written for 9 of them and lesson plans for those days were revised and added for the purposes of comparison. Using research in best practices in teaching writing, educational training, and personal experience, responses were written to each journal to condense the strengths and weaknesses of my teaching, to chart progress as a teacher, and to develop strategies for improvement in the future. This thesis demonstrates the level of reflection necessary to good teaching and incorporates best practices in teaching writing. Lesson plans and other process materials are included tor alteration and use by future ENGL 1000 instructors or other interested teachers.